


Job Interview, Avengers Style

by Lumelle



Series: When Life Gives You Reality Warpers [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Meet the Family, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-18
Updated: 2014-05-18
Packaged: 2018-01-25 15:44:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1653914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumelle/pseuds/Lumelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eli is invited to join in on an Avengers team dinner to meet Pietro's elusive husband. Of course, if Tony has his way, it will be far from his last one, regardless of Eli's own intentions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Job Interview, Avengers Style

**Author's Note:**

> I do have a story in mind for the background of the Pietro/Rhodey relationship glimpsed here, but it's going to be a multi-chapter story, and will have to wait until RL calms down a bit to be written.

Eli wasn't sure exactly how long it was going to take for him to get used to visiting his boyfriend in the Avengers Tower.

It wasn't a bad thing, really. For one thing, it was definitely closer than Westchester, so he could drop by whenever he had some free time. There was also plenty of space, giving them the opportunity to be as social with the rest of the team as they wanted or to find a more private place. Still, it was still Avengers Tower. He was actually dating an Avenger.

(A probationary Avenger, yes, but that was mere formality. Kurt was convinced the only reason for that title was that his mothers had insisted on the team not getting him killed right away, and Tony had wanted some kind of a reminder that they were supposed to be careful with their new addition. Eli wasn't entirely sure he disagreed.)

Right now, though, there was no team, just the two of them taking over the nicest couch in the enormous living room. Well, Kurt was taking it over in any case, stretched out across his lap while he sat more properly. Neither of them was really paying attention to the TV that blared on in the background.

Kurt's tail twitched a bit. "So, you got anything planned this Saturday?"

"Nothing in particular." Certainly nothing he could think of right now. He was too comfortable for too much thought. "Why so?"

"Think you could come by the Tower then?"

"Oh?" Eli hummed quietly, petting Kurt's shoulder. For some reason the fur there always seemed particularly soft, which was why he was becoming a very big fan of Kurt wearing sleeveless shirts. "Anything special happening?"

"James is coming home."

"James?" Eli blinked, and for a moment, his brain was drawing a blank. Then it hit him. "Oh! Your cousin's husband, right? Pietro's James?"

"Right." Kurt shifted a bit, stretching himself out. "He's coming back from deployment."

"That's good to hear." He actually hadn't ever met the elusive James; the man had been deployed since spring, and thus hadn't exactly been around. He had met Pietro several times, of course, and their daughter Ororo, who was a few years younger than he. She was apparently a student at the Xavier Institute, and while she had stayed elsewhere with Pietro over the summer, they had visited somewhat regularly.

"So, yeah, there's this little tradition." Kurt turned over to his back and looked up at him with shining eyes. "Whenever he gets back from being deployed, there's first a welcome back dinner with the team and then one with the family back at the school. This is the first time I'm going to be at the team dinner, and I thought you could join me."

"Ah — I really don't know if that's a good idea." Eli made a face. "I mean, if it's a team thing, I wouldn't want to intrude on that."

"Oh, it'll be fine." Kurt flashed him a grin. "Tony's already announced he's totally recruiting you once you're done with school, so nobody's going to mind."

"And was anyone going to ask for my opinion on that?" Why, yes, he was trying to hide his slight flustering at the idea that Iron Man wanted to recruit him.

"Well, he figured you'd agree to freelance for the Avengers in exchange for a full college scholarship." Kurt's grin got even wider. "Remember to be surprised when he offers, though. I'm not supposed to tell you."

"What?" Never mind flustered, now he was feeling a bit faint. "I — I couldn't accept that." He couldn't, it just wouldn't be right. Except it would make things so much easier on his family if they didn't have to worry about his college tuition. He'd been planning to pay as much of it as he could by working, but he also had no delusions about how difficult that would be.

"Tony thought you might say that. Which is why I'm throwing the idea in the air early so you have time to get used to it." Kurt reached a hand up to run it along his scalp. "I'm taking him up on the same offer, you know. He arranged for me to do online courses, so I don't have to worry about arranging my schedule to fit the Avengers." Or about being harassed on campus for what he looked like, not that either of them was about to say that aloud.

"Oh?" Eli blinked, then managed a grin. "So I'll be dating a cute college guy, now?"

"Apparently." Kurt chuckled. "Just like I'm being a dirty old man and dating a high school boy."

"I'm pretty sure that doesn't make you dirty when you're barely out of school yourself."

"Point, point." And here was another grin. "So, are you coming?"

"What?" His thoughts went along an entirely wrong track for a second or two. Only because Kurt's head was rather distracting right there in his lap, he reminded himself.

"This Saturday. You coming? Nobody's going to mind." Kurt's hand slipped down to the back of his neck. "It'd be the perfect chance for me to introduce my boyfriend to him."

"Oh, so you've invited someone else, too?" Of course he was teasing. He just couldn't resist the chance to see Kurt's all too adorable pout.

"Elijah Bradley, I just can't believe you. How could you be so very cruel to me?" Kurt gave a dramatic sigh. "Of course I want to introduce you to him. He's the last member of both my family and the team who hasn't met you yet."

"Wait, he's on the team as well?" Eli blinked. Somehow, he had gotten the impression that James was only attached to the Avengers through his husband. It seemed logical, really; being in active military service wouldn't make for a very flexible schedule.

"Well, obviously. Not that he's around as much as the rest of the team, and even when he is stateside he's usually busy either with the military or spending time with Pietro and Ororo, but he fills in when needed."

"Right." Gears started turning in Eli's head. He wasn't as much of a geek as Billy and Teddy, but he knew Avengers. Of course he did, he lived in New York, it was practically his duty to know enough about them to at least have a vague sense of the roster. And the only one he hadn't met yet was… "Wait. Are you saying your cousin's married to War Machine?"

"Since the day DADT ended, yeah." Kurt lifted his eyebrows. "What of it?"

What of it, indeed. Only the most well-known black superhero in the world at the moment, no big deal there, not like he hadn't been Eli's greatest hero right after his grandpa since the day Colonel Rhodes had confirmed he was the one piloting the War Machine armor.

"I think I'll come by," he agreed. "But I trust you to keep me from making a fool of myself."

"What, by asking for an autograph?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of fainting like a swooning maiden, but yeah, that works too." Not that he would, but at the moment he did feel a bit faint.

"Should I get jealous?"

"That depends. What are the chances he'll run off with me?"

"I think you should be more concerned about how quickly Pietro would catch up to you." And then all of a sudden Kurt was crouching next to him instead of on his back, and a second after that Eli was getting tackled down on the couch. "And before that, whether I'm going to let you go."

When Captain America walked into the room a little while later, he found them wrestling on the floor, tickling each other and laughing. As Cap cleared his throat, Kurt halted, then looked at him with a grin.

"Face it," he said, his tail still rather firmly tangled around Eli's ankle. "I bet this still isn't the worst thing people have walked in on in this room."

Eli wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that Cap seemed to agree or the slight blush creeping onto his cheeks.

Yeah, definitely still not quite used to this whole dating an Avenger thing.

*

"This is going to go wrong somehow, I just know it." Eli tugged at his shirt collar. The shirt wasn't uncomfortable per se, certainly not enough that he would have even thought of protesting when his grandmother insisted that he should wear something nice, really Elijah, it would be simply disrespectful to go to a dinner wearing something too casual. However, he still couldn't help but feel that it wasn't, well, him.

"Oh, stop fretting, it will be fine." Kurt patted his shoulder. "Or is this about the clothes again? I thought we already talked about the clothes. A lot."

"I guess we did." He certainly had worried about it enough, not wanting to give a bad impression to one of his all time heroes, despite Kurt's continuous assurances that it was going to be fine no matter what he wore.

In the end he had simply stolen Captain America's phone number and texted him to ask what would be appropriate. Okay, so Kurt had given him the number and very bravely hidden his amusement, and how weird was it that his boyfriend actually had Captain America's number to give like that, but still. Thankfully, Cap didn't seem to find it stupid or paranoid that he wanted to check, but told him in a rather friendly manner that the team dinners were traditionally more formal than pyjamas but less so than suits, and anything between the two would be just fine, really. It had eased his mind for just about two seconds before he'd started freaking over asking Captain America about suitable things to wear.

"Exactly. So stop worrying, Liebling." Kurt leaned in for a quick, soft kiss, which actually did do wonders for easing Eli's nerves somewhat. "Come on, now. They know I came down to get you, and if we take too long Tony is bound to start making very crude comments about why we are taking so long."

"Yeah, I was actually hoping not to think about that." Eli sighed. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Let's just go."

"As you wish." And here was Kurt's arm hooking through his, because Kurt did the most ridiculous and adorable things sometimes, leading him toward the Avengers' dining room which he was very reliably informed very rarely saw any actual dining action. The room with its enormous table was used for team meetings, or huge jigsaw puzzles, or crafts or technical drawings or just about anything except everyone sitting down and having a meal all at once, but this was apparently an exception. As they arrived most of the team was already seated, with only a few seats empty. At least most of them seemed to be wearing on the nicer side of casual, so he didn't feel overdressed. That was one worry down out of about a hundred.

"Sit down, kids." Hawkeye waved toward a couple of chairs vacant next to each other, and what was his life now that Hawkeye was actually acting like it wasn't unusual at all to see him in the Tower? "Steve and Tony are just about to carry out the rest of the food, and Pietro's supposed to bring the guest of honor in soon."

"Dad needs to 'freshen up' before dinner," Ororo said, clear fondness battling with sarcasm in her voice. "I wonder how old I have to be until they actually admit they're not just locking the bedroom door to keep Tony from trying to drag him to the workshop in the middle of changing clothes."

"Roughly thirty, if I know Rhodey at all, and I'm proud to say I do," Tony said as he walked in, carrying a huge salad bowl that he set with a thud near one end of the table. There was a similar bowl already sitting near the opposite end, along with various dishes full of steaming food. Eli supposed they would need a lot of food to feed all these highly athletic people, most of whom had heightened metabolism. That, and with a table this long, there had to be multiple dishes of everything or they would be doing nothing but passing bowls along.

"Sounds about right," Bruce agreed with a solemn nod. "I don't think he realizes you're supposed to grow up."

"I don't think it's just that." Steve followed Tony, balancing a big dish full of delicious-looking steaks. Judging by the fact that he set it in the last vacant spot, this was to be the last of the food. "I don't think I would be comfortable with discussing such things with my child, no matter the age."

"Why, something you've got to tell us, Cap?" Tony grinned as he took one of the empty seats while Steve sat down opposite to him. "A little captainy bun in the oven?"

"I'm pretty sure you're aware enough of the processes involved to know that I'm highly unlikely to be pregnant." Steve rolled his eyes just a bit. If someone had told Eli before all this that Cap had a rather surprising streak of snarkiness to him, he would have thought they were joking, but it seemed to be true enough. It was a good thing, too, or Tony would have ripped him to shreds in moments.

"I was actually trying to imply you put some pretty young lady in a delicate position, but if you'd rather read that as my saying you might have gotten it on with a virile man at some point, be my guest." Tony glanced up. "JARVIS? ETA for the main show?"

"They are currently walking towards the dining room, Sir." And true enough, mere moments later two men appeared in the doorway. Pietro was familiar enough to Eli, white hair somewhat more tousled than usual but otherwise perfectly decent with a very satisfied grin on his face, but the other he had only ever seen in pictures and on TV. Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, pilot of the War Machine armor, the first black superhero the public was actually aware of. And married to his boyfriend's cousin, as it happened.

Yeah, he might have had just a bit of a fanboy expression on his face right now.

"Finally." Clint grinned at the two. "We were just discussing when exactly you were planning to admit to your little princess that the two of you actually have sex sometimes."

"I do not know what this sex thing is you speak of." Pietro was beside his husband one moment, then standing next to the table the next, pulling out one of the last two seats free, right next to Ororo. "You must have imagined it."

"Man, I've got to have the best imagination in all the world, then, since I can recall a lot of it." Tony shook his head and smirked right back at him. "If you're actually forcing my bestie to lead a life of celibacy, I might reconsider my stance on letting you be a part of the team."

"Tony, be nice." Bruce rolled his eyes, then smiled at James as he walked closer to the table, appearing amused at the antics. "Good to see you again. I didn't even manage to catch a glimpse of you when Pietro brought you in."

"Yes, I was made to be very aware that I was missed." Eli somewhat belatedly realized that the seat Pietro had pulled out for James, between Ororo and the last empty seat Pietro was about to take, was almost exactly opposite to him. "And I see the team grew some more while I was away, too."

"Well, you know Kurt already." Steve smiled, doubtlessly happy about the change of subject. "He's been on the roster for about a month now, though technically he's still only a probationary member. And the young man next to him is Eli Bradley. He is Kurt's boyfriend."

"Eli, huh? Nice to meet you." James extended a hand over the table, and Eli just about managed to shake it. "I'm James, or Rhodey, depending on who you're going to listen to. I answer to both names, so don't bother your head too much."

"Um. Nice to meet you, too." Eli was sure he would have been bright red if his skin had actually allowed for that. "I'm, ah. I'm a big fan."

"Really? Usually people just keep talking about how Iron Man is so much sleeker and nicer." James didn't seem offended or weirded out or anything, though, so that was definitely a bonus.

"Oh, Eli disagrees. Apparently War Machine is much more impressive, which just doesn't make sense, my suit's had a lot more upgrades and stuff. Really, he's got to get his priorities in order before we can ever bring him in to the team."

"Oh?" James lifted his eyebrows. "And any particular reason you're planning to recruit him, aside from Kurt probably liking the idea?" His eyes were on Eli even as he spoke to Tony, but the look in them was not unfriendly.

"I, ah." Eli took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn't say anything too idiotic. "I'm kind of strong?" Yeah, he hadn't held very high hopes anyway.

"What he means to say is that he has a degree of supersoldier abilities." Kurt placed a hand on his arm, and yeah, that felt nice, as did the proud tone in Kurt's voice. "You know, healing, strength, senses, all the nice stuff that makes Cap what he is."

"Well, he is slightly smaller, but I think we can all agree that's a failing we can just forgive for now," Tony said with a grin. "After all, nobody wants to repeat the fiasco that was daddy dearest's vita ray display, seriously, those things were nasty to anyone any less than ideal. And speaking of super soldier traits, how about we get to eating? I think we're all adult enough to carry on a conversation even with our plates filled, and the people with super metabolism are only going to sit still so long."

Steve tried to protest for all of a moment, but then gave in. After a few words of how glad they were to have James back home with the team and his family, he finally gave his blessing for everyone to attack the food. Eli almost hesitated, not wanting to appear greedy, but he really was hungry and the food smelled delicious and at least he wasn't trying to play keep-away with the serving dishes like Clint and Natasha appeared to be doing.

A dinner with the Avengers was a strange affair. He'd seen similar things in some form before, having been invited to a couple of general pizza parties or movie nights at the Tower since Kurt moved in, but this was an actual meal with no other purpose but eating and spending time together. People were chatting amongst themselves between bites of the excellent food, updating James on everything he had missed or making jokes or just making general chitchat about seemingly innocuous topics, even if Thor's voice made everything seem like a grand proclamation. Jane Foster asked Eli about his plans after high school and he actually didn't say anything too foolish, and Natasha and Darcy were having what appeared like a perfectly serious discussion about the pros and cons of poisonous nail polish, and he didn't even feel out of place when he ate more than the average person because he was still far behind the likes of Thor and Captain and there was plenty to go around in any case.

It was a strange and a bit uncomfortable at first, like he were an intruder, but at the end of it he wasn't feeling out of place at all, having somehow been dragged into a very heated discussion between Captain Marvel, Wasp, and Tony of all people about the practicality of high heels in combat situations. For some reason, Tony kept insisting he would absolutely wear heels if they were at all compatible with his suit. Eli wasn't sure if that was a mental image he was comfortable with having inside his brain.

It ended eventually, though, because all things end eventually, and after a huge selection of ridiculously expensive ice creams for dessert everyone started to disperse. Eli got up when Kurt did, fighting to urge to gather his dishes despite Tony's assurances he had people paid to come take care of that because his grandmother would have killed him for just leaving them there, when someone touched his arm. As he turned to look, he was shocked to find himself standing just a step away from James.

"I was glad to meet you at last," James said, sounding actually sincere. "I'd heard some reports about Kurt's mysterious boyfriend, and I figured you had to be a decent man if Pietro hadn't picked you up and dropped you off on a remote island somewhere, but it was good to have my expectations confirmed."

"Um." And what was he supposed to say to that? "I hope I wasn't too much of a disappointment."

"Not at all." James glanced at Kurt and smiled. "Kurt's one of the more sensible members of his family, and I'm saying that being married to Pietro. I was sure he would have picked someone worth his attention. Now I just know it to be a fact."

"What can I say?" Kurt flashed a bright grin, drawing Eli close. "Mutter taught me to be picky when it comes to dating. I just waited until I found someone who met my exacting standards."

"That, and James is taken and you know Tony would punch you if you tried to have a go at Cap, so you went for the next best thing." And here was Pietro, standing next to James with a smirk, looking so very similar to Tommy Eli was forced to conclude that Billy's theory on their origin had to be true. "You know, it just makes sense. If I didn't know better, I would be convinced Eli here is James's and Steve's secret lovechild."

"Oh, please." Kurt rolled his eyes, not hesitating for a second. "First off, I liked Eli before he became super, and secondly, if I took the opinions of meddling assholes into account in my private life, I would actually have to listen to you and that's not happening."

"See? Told you he's sensible." James chuckled, and Eli tried not to be too mortified at the entire situation. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I do believe I owe some actual family time to my darling daughter before we have to head upstate for the next big dinner affair."

Eli was fairly sure he said something, and it probably wasn't too offensive, since they seemed to part amicably enough. At the end of it he was still at Kurt's arm, being led out of the dining room where he had just eaten sitting opposite to War Machine, and there had been some talk of video games before he had to head home because apparently Thor had a passionate love affair with the Wii even though Darcy kept beating him at every game they had tried so far, and honestly he had probably passed out at the table because this had to be a dream of the most bizarre kind.

Kurt was warm and real next to him, though, enough so that he couldn't possibly imagine something so nice, and if that was going to be his anchoring point to reality then so be it.

His life was officially too strange for his own good.

*

It had been a couple of days since the team dinner he had taken part in, and he still could hardly believe it had happened. It certainly seemed unlikely now, as he walked home from school, a distant dream of superheroes and strange happenings that was so very different from the busy streets and ordinary worries of his everyday life. One day, dine with Captain America and Iron Man and War Machine, the next, get slightly freaked out over the upcoming Spanish exam. This was his life, and he still wasn't entirely convinced it was real.

Of course, as luck would have it, the stranger parts of his life would start to seep into the ordinary.

"Good afternoon, Elijah. No work today?"

"Not today, no." Eli shook his head, smiling faintly at his grandmother. "I covered a shift for someone else last week, so they're doing mine today so I can study for my exam."

"Right. So, I was hoping you would clear something up for me." There was an odd tone to her voice. She was being serious, but not in the way that would have indicated he was in trouble. Well, not yet, at least.

"Uh. About what?" He dropped his bag, trying not to fidget. He didn't think he had been doing anything that would warrant special explanations. The only thing out of ordinary lately had been the dinner, and not only had she been well aware of that beforehand, but she had also very nearly interrogated him afterward to make sure he had behaved himself. Aside from that, he really didn't know what this could have been about.

"I received a very interesting call today." Still that same odd tone, so very nearly unnerving. "A Miss Pepper Potts, from Stark Industries?"

Well. That certainly got his attention. It was alarming enough that someone from SI had been in touch, but Pepper Potts? CEO extraordinaire, which Tony insisted was her true title? "About what?" Damn, his voice hadn't come that close to a squeak since he got over the worst of puberty.

"Apparently, they wish to offer you a special scholarship, conditional on your finishing high school." She paused, then added, "That, and on them getting first choice at hiring you once you're done."

"But that doesn't even make sense." Even though Kurt's words came back to haunt him. An offer he couldn't refuse. "SI hires engineers and scientists. I want to become a librarian." Tony knew this, Eli was absolutely certain he knew this. Eli had personally told him as much at one point during the dinner, which had caused Tony to scoff at the idea of people actually bothering themselves with something so useless as actual physical books.

"I also mentioned that, but she said one of their new departments is looking for an information analyst and your degree would make you perfect for the position. They would take you on as an intern until you're done with your studies." She gave him a level gaze. "It would be an amazing opportunity for you, Elijah. You could go to any school you wanted. I certainly know you're smart enough for any of them." But couldn't afford most of them, which went unsaid. At least, he couldn't without this.

"I know." So very much like Tony Stark, he thought, feeling the slightest bit faint. Smart and underhanded all at once, approaching through his grandmother. With the promise of internship and a job later it wasn't charity, not quite. Even though he was rather certain his job description would involve a lot more punching than was likely to come up in any college course he might possibly take. "I'll think about it."

"Please do. It would be stupid to dismiss such an opportunity off hand, and you are not stupid."

"I know. It's just… I'm not sure why they would want me." Wasn't sure if they actually did, or if this was just another scheme of Tony's to make up for his father's crimes, or to make Kurt happy.

"Well, I already told her you would not be accepting handouts based on misplaced guilt." As Eli blinked, his grandmother scoffed. "Really, my boy. Do you think I am entirely naive? Tony Stark is charming enough in person, but Isaiah wouldn't take his charity, and I know you wouldn't either even if it came in disguise. However, Miss Potts assured me they are indeed planning on opening the analyst position, and are approaching you because they already know you would work well with the team."

"Right." Well, he supposed it wasn't a surprise Pepper wouldn't just go along with Tony's little schemes. He had only met her briefly, but he had heard quite a lot about her and her ways of putting Tony in line. "You know they want me to join the team, right? Because of, uh. Because of grandfather's blood." The one now running through his veins.

"Well, of course. They would be quite foolish not to, I would think. Isaiah is in no condition to join in on such adventures, but you are young and smart and want to make things better. I can't imagine a better person for them to add."

Now, Eli blinked again. "And… you're okay with that?" Somehow, he had expected her to discourage any such notions.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Her expression softened, just a fraction. "Your grandfather was a hero," she said, her voice soft. "Still is. He did things most people will only dream of, but nobody heard of them because the world isn't fair. And while you should make your decisions for yourself, not for him or me or anyone else, I know he would be incredibly proud if you did the same things and actually got the credit for it."

Eli swallowed. "Right. I'll think about it." Just not right now. He couldn't think right now.

"Eli?" His grandmother's voice stopped him on his way to his room. "You know he would also be incredibly proud of you even if you were never anything but an ordinary librarian."

"I know, yeah." Eli gave her a faint smile. "I've always known." Because the only thing his grandfather truly wanted for his grandkids, to the extent that he wanted anything but peace and quiet, was a happy life doing what they wanted, not what someone else graciously allowed them to do.

He fled into his room, flinging his bag to the side. He would study, just in a moment, but right now, he needed something else. Digging out his cell phone, he chose Kurt's number, then pressed call. He needed to vent to someone, or maybe ask for advice, or just sit quietly and listen to Kurt talk because Kurt was always happy to do that whenever he needed it.

For all the strangeness dating an Avenger had brought into his life, he wouldn't have traded it for anything.

And that was, for the moment, the only thing that mattered.


End file.
